


Shades of Strength

by Enigel



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Character Study, Comment Fic, Community: fandom_stocking, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-06
Updated: 2010-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-06 09:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigel/pseuds/Enigel





	Shades of Strength

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jain/gifts).



Ronon stood in the doorway, blocking it entirely with his bulk.

"Excuse me," Dr Zelenka said distractedly, trying to get past him while continuing to read from the tablet. The screen was full of scrolling symbols, and Ronon wasn't sure if the ensuing frown was addressed to him or to the numbers.

When he didn't move, Radek looked up at him in surprise, as if the door had suddenly turned into an annoying human.

"Excuse me," he said louder.

When Ronon didn't budge, the scientist just bent down a little and sneaked under Ronon's outstretched arm.

Ronon huffed and turned to follow Zelenka's progress in the other section of the lab.

"Why do you let him walk all over you like that?"

"Hm?" Zelenka said noncommittally, but Ronon was not in the mood to be deterred. This was the next man after McKay on whose brain the whole city was counting, and Ronon wanted to know what kind of man he was.

"McKay," he clarified. "Why do you let him wipe the floor with you?" His tone was deliberately offensive.

"That's Rodney. That's how he is."

"He can change, if you challenge him. Show him you're not weak."

This at least seemed to get a reaction out of Zelenka. He turned to face Ronon, looking him in the eyes for the first time. There was a glint of steel there, that Ronon hadn't seen before. Maybe he'd never looked, or maybe he'd never been allowed to see.

"Perhaps it is you who have limited definition of strength."

Ronon shrugged.

"People push, you push back."

"Then we all push and scream, and at the end of the day, when the city goes up in the sky, we decide the winner by who shouted the loudest, yes?"

Zelenka's tone was still calm, with only the slightest hint of abrasiveness.

"That's how Rodney functions, and I can stand that, as long as it lets us function, find ideas, solve problems. It takes a lot of _strength_," he emphasized the word, "to not snap back, call him out on it."

"Or smack him in the face," Ronon suggested.

"That too," Zelenka agreed. "Very tempting. This lab is still standing because I resist temptation."

He paused a little and took off his glasses to clean them. The gesture was not just meant to give him time to think; Ronon could see smudges on the lenses from where he was.

"Rodney feels already threatened enough - by the Wraith, by the IOA, by other scientists, by whatever crisis we're always trying to avert. In the lab at least, he needs to feel safe."

Ronon nodded in acknowledgement and waited until Zelenka put his glasses back.

"I see your point," he said seriously. Then he grinned. "I still think McKay should get a smacking now and then."

Zelenka waved at him.

"Oh, he has Colonel Sheppard for that, and you and Miss Emmagan. I trust you shall keep him in check."

"Heh," Ronon said. "Wouldn't a Czech be best to keep him in check?"

Zelenka's eyebrows did a comical ascension toward his tall forehead.

"Bože můj, your sense of humor has devolved from non existent to making bad puns! I suppose we have Colonel Sheppard to thank for that."

"Now that sounded like McKay," Ronon observed.

Zelenka sighed.

"That is very scary thought. I think one Rodney is enough for this planet, don't you?"

"System," Ronon said. "And I agree."

"I knew he was in good hands with you," Zelenka said cheerfully, as Ronon unglued himself from the door frame and turned to leave.

Ronon once thought of McKay as one of those plants covered in thorns that Dr Brown seemed so fond of. The more he got to know him, the more he understood that he was more like a hedgehog - bristling and poking his spikes everywhere, but with a soft, vulnerable belly. Zelenka knew where his vulnerable side was, and chose not to use it against him. That was a different kind of strength, closer to Teyla's quiet wisdom. Ronon could respect that.


End file.
